Iyonna Vell
Iyonna was the second student of Antos Torrall; his first being slain by Darth Vader during the Great Jedi Purge. Iyonna showed great promise in the Matukai teachings, even at a young age. She started her training at the age of 12. LIFE BEFORE She was little more than a street urchin before her training. Iyonna survived by using her seemingly unique talents to foresee a few moments in advance to know which vendors she could steal from and which would catch her. The Twi’lek was able to get her hands on almost anything… weapons, food, clothing… even credits. That all changed when she was caught by someone she never expected. As she attempted to steal several pieces of fruit, a middle-aged man came up from behind and stopped her. Instead of turning her in, he purchased the food for her and asked that she only indulge him in conversation for a while. She hesitated, but agreed. It turned out that the stranger just wanted to know about her precognitive abilities. She explained that it was just something she always could do. The stranger convinced her to give up her life as a preteen criminal and to study the Matukai teachings under him. With little to lose, she agreed and traveled with Antos to the Unknown Regions. TRAINING Iyonna easily picked up on the techniques that Antos taught her, but she excelled at Wan-shen combat because of her precognitive abilities. She knew what her opponent would do moments before her opponent. The Twi’lek spent much time performing meditative martial arts to deepen her connection as well as training with the traditional Matukai weapon. Antos was worried that she was going to fall to the dark side because of Iyonna’s interest in combat, but Iyonna resisted, telling Antos she trained in combat techniques only to be able to help him train other students in the Matukai Teachings. ADEPT As typical for all Matukai, Iyonna Force-Forged a Wan-shen, a typically 5-6 foot long staff with a single, short blade on one end. (Her particular wan-shen seperates into 3 sections, each connected to the others by a duracord cable that can be retracted to form a solid staff. An eight inch axe-like blade tops her weapon.) This signified the end of her training, and Antos urged her to take on a student. She was hesitant, but Antos convinced her that it would only be another form of training, as Antos learned much while training her. Iyonna found two potential students, but was faced with a dilemma. The two were twins and she did not want to separate them. She turned to her old master for advice, but all he said was that the Matukai weren’t bound by the same principles as the Jedi. She started to train both of them, and continues to do so presently. The twin human males (Ren and Savik) are skilled with wan-shen, but they are quite remarkable when they both wield two short swords together. While the wan-shen is the typical weapon of the Matukai, Iyonna has encouraged them to force-forge their own swords when they are ready. ACADEMY Iyonna serves as a teacher at the monastery academy on Aridus with Leos and Antos, teaching students advanced martial arts and combat techniques. She also serves on the council, helping to deal with day-to-day occurences. Category:Twi'leks